If Buffalo wings and kettle corn married, this would be their baby! This popcorn is sweet, salty, and spicy all at the same time! It's a winner for football parties. If you like blue cheese, try sprinkling a few blue cheese crumbles over your serving of popcorn. I put a small bowl of blue cheese crumbles next to the popcorn bowl so people can add some if they wish.
Ingredients
- cooking spray:
- popped popcorn: 8 cups
- white sugar: 1 cup
- water: 0.25 cup
- Buffalo wing sauce (such as Frank's®): 0.33333 cup
- butter, cut into small cubes: 3 Tbsp
- baking soda: 0.5 tsp
- cayenne pepper: 0.25 tsp (optional)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Spray a large bowl with cooking spray. Fill with popcorn.
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Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone pad.
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Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, without stirring and swirling pan gently as needed, until sugar has melted and the caramel is a deep amber color, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Stir Buffalo sauce and butter carefully into the caramel; it will spit and bubble and may form a ball. Return to heat; bring to a boil, stirring until caramel is dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the baking soda and cayenne pepper.
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Pour spicy caramel mixture carefully over the popcorn. Toss to completely coat, guarding your hands from the hot caramel. Spread the coated popcorn onto the prepared baking sheet.
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Bake in the preheated oven until dry, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes; stir.